Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

History of PPS

Time-line 1970 - Present

1970s – 1990s - The Early years

Reform of the law relating to personal property securities received limited support at a conference convened in Melbourne in the early 1970s, following the 1971-72 Report of the Molomby Committee (an ad hoc committee of the Law Council of Australia (LCA)). The Victorian and Queensland Law Reform Commissions produced reports recommending law reform in 1992.
The relevant industry and legal sectors showed little support for proposals for reform of the law on personal property in a 1993 interim report — including a draft Bill — by the Australian Law Reform Commission, and a 1995 discussion paper by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

2000 – 2002 - The Bond Bill

A workshop convened at Bond University, and financed by the then Banking Law Association (BLA) and Australian Finance Conference, generated substantial support for reform and concluded that a new Bill was needed. The BLA convened a committee to draft the Bill — comprising representatives from the major banks and other financial service providers, consumer interests, relevant government departments, infrastructure agencies, and individual lawyers from legal practices and universities in Australia and New Zealand.

The revised Bill was considered at a BLA conference in June 2000, which affirmed the need for reform but referred the Bill back to the Committee for further development. A further Bill was supported by members of the committee in 2001, and referred to the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. The draft Bill  was considered at a Workshop at Bond University on 25-37 April 2002. The workshop proceedings, including the Bond Bill, were published in a special edition of the Bond Law Review. The Bond Bill was sponsored by the late Professor David Allan. The Bond Bill is available on the PPS downloads page.

2005 - SCAG PPS Working Group

At the March 2005 meeting of SCAG, Ministers formed an officers’ working group to examine the possible options for personal property securities reform and to develop proposals for Ministers to consider. The Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department is chairing the working group.
The SCAG Working Group has made considerable progress in developing proposals for a national cooperative system for the registration of personal property securities.

2006 - SCAG Options Paper and Seminar Series

In May 2006, the Australian Government launched a review of the law on personal property securities with a series of seminars held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

The seminar series followed the release by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) of an options paper for public consultation on 11 April 2006.

The options paper canvasses the existing arrangements for personal property securities including the difficulties with those arrangements, and outlines reform options based on the New Zealand Personal Property Security Act 1999 and the Bond Bill.

The following documents are available from the PPS downloads page:

2006 - Access Economics - PPS Report

In July 2006 the Attorney-General released a report by Access Economics on the costs and benefits of Personal Property Securities Reform. The report is available on the PPS downloads page.

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2006 - Policy Development Workshop

On 25 July 2006 the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department hosted a Policy Development Workshop on the review of personal property securities law.

2006 - 2009 -Discussion Papers

In developing proposals for the national system, there have been four discussion papers released on personal property securities reform. Discussion Paper 1 deals with registration and search issues. Discussion Paper 2 deals with legal issues arising as part of the proposed reforms, including extinguishment, priorities, conflict of laws, enforcement and insolvency rules. Discussion Paper 3 focuses on security interests in investment property, such as shares, and other monetary obligations.

Public comment has been invited on each of the first three discussion papers. Submissions from stakeholders contributed towards the formulation of a draft exposure bill.

The fourth discussion paper released in August 2008 paper focused on the PPS regulations. An updated version of the Discussion Paper on regulations was released in October 2009.

2007 - COAG in-principle Agreement to PPS Reform

On 13 April 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed, in-principle, to establish a national system for the registration of personal property securities, which will be implemented by Commonwealth legislation supported by a referral of legislative power by the States to the Commonwealth.

2008 - Consultation Draft Bill and 2008 Seminar Series

In May 2008 the Attorney-General released a Consultation Draft of the PPS Bill as well as Commentary and a further transitional/Consequential amendments Bill.  This document release was followed by a series of seminars in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

The following documents are available from the PPS downloads page:

2008 - COAG signs Intergovernmental Agreement on PPS Reform

On 2 October 2008, the Council of Australian Governments signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) formalising its commitment to the reform of Australia’s personal property securities law and arrangements. This agreement represented a significant step forward in the development of a national system for the registration and regulation of personal property securities in Australia. Copies of the agreement are available on the COAG website.

2008 - Exposure Draft of Bill Released and Revised Commentary

On 12 November 2008, the Senate referred an exposure draft of the Personal Property Securities Bill 2008 to the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs for inquiry and report. The report is available on the PPS downloads page.

In December 2008 a revised Commentary was released by the Attorney- General’s Department. That document is also available on the PPS downloads page.

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2009 – Senate Committee Report on Exposure Draft

In March 2009 the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs delivered its report. The report is available on the Senate website.

The Government Response to Senate Committee Inquiry is available on the PPS downloads page.

2009 - PPS Privacy Impact Assessment Report

In May 2009 the Government commissioned Information Integrity Solutions Pty Ltd to conduct an independent Privacy Impact Assessment of the Personal Property Securities project.

Information Integrity Solutions submitted its report in July 2009. The report is available on the PPS downloads page.

The assessment takes account of the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Report on Exposure draft of the Personal Property Securities Bill 2008, the Government response to that report and the Personal Property Securities Bill 2009 as introduced into Parliament. All of these documents are available on the PPS downloads page.

The Attorney-General has now responded to the privacy impact assessment. The response is available on the PPS downloads page.

2009 - Senate Committee reports on PPS Bill 2009

On 20 August 2009, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee handed down its Report on the Personal Property Securities Bill 2009 (Provisions).

The Government Response to this report is available on the PPS downloads page.

The committee consolidated into a table many of the comments made to it about the Bill (Appendix 4 to its report). The Department adopted that table and used a version of it to address the comments made to the committee and those made subsequently to the Department by 30 September 2009. The full report is available on the PPS downloads page.

2009 – Senate Committee Inquiry - Personal Property Securities (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [Provisions]

On 23rd November 2009 the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee handed down its Report on the Personal Property Securities (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 is available on the Senate website.

2009 - PPS Legislation Receives Royal Assent

On 14 December 2009, the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 and the Personal Property Securities (Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 received the Royal Assent.

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 and the Personal Property Securities (Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 will apply after the registration commencement time, expected to be 30 January 2012.

Copies of both Acts are available from the ComLaw website.

Senate Committee Inquiry - Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Bill 2010

On 12 May 2010 the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee handed down its Report on the Personal Property Securities (Consequential and Other Amendments) Bill 2010.

The report and the Government response is available from the Senate website.

The Government response to the report:

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Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Act 2011

The Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Act 2011 received Royal Assent on 26 May 2011.  This Act makes the last set of substantial amendments to the PPS Act, including:

  • regulating the use of the PPS Register
  • ensuring that the regime is consistent with commercial practice
  • making it easier for consumers to access data held on other databases, and
  • correcting minor errors and updating definitions.

The amendments in the Act to the Corporations Act 2001 clarify that the Personal Property Securities regime is not intended to interfere with existing rights under that Act.

The latest version of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 on ComLaw consolidates all amendments, including those in this Act.

Personal Property Securities Amendment Regulations 2011

The Personal Property Securities Amendment Regulations 2011 (No. 1) was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on 5 October 2011 and commenced on 6 October 2011. The Amendment Regulations and the Explanatory Statement are available on the ComLaw website.

Personal Property Securities (Registration Commencement) Bill 2011

On 12 October 2011, the Attorney-General introduced the Personal Property Securities (Registration Commencement) Bill 2011 into the Parliament. The Bill amends the definitions of ‘migration time’ and ‘registration commencement’ time. The Attorney-General may now determine a time other than the automatically-determined times in the PPS Act. The Bill and Explanatory Memorandum are available on the Parliament of Australia website.

The purpose of the Bill is to help manage risks that may arise as the implementation date approaches, and to remove the default commencement date of 1 February 2012.

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